Regret
by xoverlover
Summary: YJ Anon Prompt. Someone on the team, JL, or maybe even a villian, says something hurtful to Robin. ONE-SHOT.


I wrote this for the YJ anon meme a while ago, and didn't even remember I had. Odd. Might as well post it here too.

Original prompt: _"Someone on the team, JL, or maybe even a villian, says something hurtful to Robin. He plays it off like it didn't mean anything to him. Batman cheers him up later._

_Bonus: Batman is present during the insult. Doesn't defend Robin (prob let's Robin fight his own battles without big bat!daddy to cradle him.) Still, it doesn't mean he isn't upset._

_Bonus2: Other people stiffen that someone dared to diss Robin in front of bat!daddy._

_Bonus3: Batman issues payback... somehow. :p"_

* * *

><p><strong>Regret<strong>

He knew that both Black Canary and Red Tornado had tried to make things better. Wonder Woman herself had tried to speak to the Man of Steel. Batman had also tried to reason with him, as both the Dark Knight and **Bruce**.

You knew you were in trouble when playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne sat down across from you to have a serious talk.

But still, he had not listened. He had just turned the other way, and continued the act of boy-scout for the rest of the world. Because civilians didn't know how much of a cowardly bastard he was. Once, Dick had also been fooled into thinking like them. But now he knew better. Burning his Superman pajamas had been harsh (because Bruce had bought him those a few months into his arrival to the manor), but it was the least he could do to show his support for Supey.

Still. After several months without visible improvement, and specially after the last mission, Dick thought just burning the blue pajamas with red S's in them was not enough.

"You just need to give him a chance!"

"Robin, this is not the time or place—"

"It's exactly the time and place for it!" he yelled back, and waved his arm to the best of his ability, when said arm was in a cast and strapped tightly to his torso. "You see this? This is just a _scratch_ compared to what could have happened to me!"

Superman flinched, but to his credit, he didn't look away from Robin's masked eyes.

"I'm sorry you were injured."

Robin glared.

"But you're not sorry Superboy got injured."

This time, the Man of Steel did look away.

They had almost messed up their latest mission. It had started as a very simple mission: infiltrate a building, hack the mainframe, come back with the information. They had not expected there to be so many henchmen, which had only helped to distract them from the one enemy that almost got two in their team killed.

Robin knew he'd messed up. He knew his life was more precious than any information they could gather from the small-shot shady company. He still had risked his neck to finish loading the files into his wrist computer, and had gotten his arm crushed under a heavy hammer for his efforts.

Well, not literally crushed. More like, heavily fractured. But the pain had been sudden and sharp enough to make him cry out. Next thing he knew, Superboy was tackling the guy aside, before he could bring the enormous hammer down on Robin's chest or face instead.

At the time, they hadn't known the hammer had Kryptonite fragments embedded inside the metal.

Superboy had a concussion and three broken ribs before they could take the guy down, but he hadn't once let him near Robin again. He was still in the infirmary back in Mount Justice, completely puzzled by the fact that he was not unbreakable.

It had taken a while to convince him that no, he was not defective, and Superman could get broken bones too. And after Batman swooped in to check on Robin's injury, it had taken even longer to promise that Superman did care for him, he was just busy watching over Metropolis and that was why he hadn't visited.

Robin had demanded Batman bring him to the Hall of Justice as soon as the painkillers kicked in. Batman made him wait until touring hours were over, and from the way he kept checking in with Martian Manhunter, until Superman was there.

It really wasn't Robin's fault if there were other League members there at the time.

"Just go _see_ him," he hissed, clenching his uninjured hand tightly with the effort not to toss a Birdarang at the man. He knew it wouldn't hurt him, but that was hardly the point.

"I—"

There was no member of the league who wasn't watching at this point. Batman had his back, if only because he had not scolded him yet. Flash and Green Lantern were both on nearby couches, watching avidly and in Flash's case, with wide eyes. Wonder Woman was steadily glaring at the back of Superman's head, who ought to be grateful she didn't have his heat vision. Zatara, who Robin was sure had just dropped by to deliver bits of good news, watched with raised eyebrows as thirteen-year-old Robin tried to yell Superman down.

Robin would have laughed if he wasn't so upset. Superman's relation with Superboy was putting a strain between him and the League – surely he could see he was the one in the wrong?

"I can't. Superboy will be fine." He glanced over to Batman as if to get confirmation for that, but that wasn't enough, and Robin snapped.

"He wants to see you! Superboy is not the evil weapon Cadmus wanted him to be, why do you refuse to see that? _He saved my life!_ I would have died if he hadn't stepped in! **He** could have died!"

"Maybe if you weren't so reckless, nothing bad would have happened!" Superman finally retorted, his voice obviously a tad louder than he'd intended.

Robin froze, lower lip caught between his teeth. The anger was still there, but the trembling in his shoulders was definitely shame.

The hall was silent, wide-eyed heroes looking back and forth from Superman to Batman, standing behind Robin. The man half-hiding in the shadows made no move to stop the conflict, but the eyes behind the cowl narrowed dangerously.

"Whatever," the Boy Wonder snapped, or at least tried to. But the word came out shaky and guilty, and he turned away and made out of the Hall.

Superman's shoulders sagged only by an inch, but it was there. It was only after the black-and-red clad teen had made it out of the room that his mentor moved. He did not even look Superman's way as he moved to follow his protégé. But everyone in the Hall heard his words very clearly when he passed the Man of Steel.

"You may need to brush up on your super-tact."

* * *

><p>It was almost a week later that Clark found out Lois had somehow gotten an exclusive interview with the one and only Superboy.<p>

Somehow, he only found out after rescuing a wizened lady from a fire. She had taken one look at him, taken the purse she had stubbornly denied to leave in her flaming apartment, and begun beating him over the head with it.

It was the first time he was called an insensitive jerk and an irresponsible parent by a civilian. But it wasn't the last time that week. He was very close to calling it a day when a little boy rejected his help with rescuing his cat from a tree, teary-eyed and scowling and declaring that he didn't dream about having Superman as an older brother anymore.

He hadn't thought such things would make him feel so ashamed, but he was. It might have been taken out of measure, but this wasn't something he could claim not to have done. Superboy had been incredibly lenient and naïve in his answers to Lois Lane. That hadn't stopped the woman from being coldly truthful of her opinion regarding how Superman was treating his clone (effective son, she'd said).

And of course, someone had decided to send a copy of that newspaper to a certain home in Smallville.

It was only after all that that he began admitting to himself, he might have been a bit cruel to Superboy.

Still, if he took one moment to ignore his feelings of the situation, he'd find one other thing he regretted.

He shouldn't have been rude to Batman's protégé.


End file.
